Lamia
Ancient Lamia were a gypsy culture, using disguise magic to appear as travelers and traders. They would lure men in with enchanted song and dance, then every female in the caravan would get to mate with him for 8 hours each (using their venom to keep the victim hard) until his hips were broken. Many people in the desert wised up to these sly cobra-lamia's ways though, driving the lamia east into the forests where they evolved from cobra-like to more like boas and other constrictors. They've adapted thick, powerful tails that allow them to climb trees with ease and break through 6-inch thick concrete walls. Many lamia still know the magic of their culture as well, their main weakness being the fact they're cold blooded. Lamia also shed every spring into new scales, a very private event that leaves the lamia extra sensitive to touch. It's said lamia are also very sensitive to taste and can smell with their tongues, acting as a weak blindsense. Lamia have also been associated with water, healing, and fertility for centuries, due to shirohebi and melusine cults spreading and eventually falling into myth. Lamia are also the ancient enemies of harpies, who used to live similarly and steal their men. Many modern lamia struggle to intergrate with human society due to a common fear of snakes, but this has allowed the lamia's society to continue to thrive. Modern lamia culture is gypsy inspired, full of the latest glitzy fashions and goods shared amongst the various communities through potlatch*. Lamia are still led by matriarchs as they were in the past, but even young lamia have a say in their community. Their traditional dishes are all egg-based, with their specialty dishes being made with the eggs of harpies. Many harpies willingly give unfertilized eggs to the lamia in exchange for goods, though some communities are still hateful towards harpies. *Potlatch is a system for distributing goods without a market. Chieftains or other influential leaders stockpile food, crafts items, and other goods, largely made by their followers, and then hold large feasts where they give them away, both to members of their own community and to leaders of other communities. This maintains the Reputation of the chieftain so he can collect more goods and do it all over again. Potlatch is typical of moderately complex economies that derive food from several sources and have a means of storing food and other goods. *Potlatch is a system for distributing goods without a market. Chieftains or other influential leaders stockpile food, crafts items, and other goods, largely made by their followers, and then hold large feasts where they give them away, both to members of their own community and to leaders of other communities. This maintains the Reputation of the chieftain so he can collect more goods and do it all over again. Potlatch is typical of moderately complex economies that derive food from several sources and have a means of storing food and other goods. Echidna Subspecies Also known as the 'Mother of Monsters' is the echidna. While few exist and are born exclusively from the continuing echidna bloodline, they're widely known because of their unique ability to birth monsters of any other species. An echidna's firstborn will always be another female echidna, but after that all bets are off. Echidna can also appear as any other lamia race, but are always supernaturally beautiful regardless. No members have died of old age since the race began by a random mutation thousands of years ago, and they are extremely picky about their men, waiting hundreds of years for the right man to come along, and won't wait for the first to die should another they desire come along. They have a reputation as kind mothers, vain wives, and ancient dungeon keepers, using their children to staff their maze-like dens. Shirohebi Subspecies Originating from the East are the shirohebi, pale Lamia with a penchant for water magic. While the western lamia were forming caravans, the shirohebi were binding themselves into service to the local ryus. In exchange for their service, the ryu brought the blessing of acceptance to the shirohebi, which brought the shirohebi their own human worshippers. As a go between for the locals and ryu, the respect for them only grew until the sudden depopulation of the shirohebi race, thought to be brought on by kidnapping, hate crimes towards monsters, the shirohebi's natural shyness, and unwillingness to court humans. Modern shirohebi have begun to have a baby boom, getting past almost a century of rarity thanks to the almost overzealous use of love spells, so it's not recommended to near these deceptive snakes. Despite being shy priestesses, they will use their magic to force the love of any they desire, never letting them go far from them ever again. Melusine Subspecies Melusine are winged lamia found on coasts and the rare river delta. While their wings would trick one into thinking they can fly, and their legends claim they once could, they're much too heavy for flight. Their wings are useful for scaring larger predators in the sea and guiding their swimming. Despite spending their lives near and in water, they have no gills and must hold their breath for hours at a time. Many sightings of sea serpents and mermaids are actually melusine coming up for air. Modern melusine are traders for the mermaid kingdoms, bringing their goods to the shores of coastal kingdoms. Melusine are still worshipped on occasion by coastal tribes wooed by their unique looks. Melusine with horns are considered regal and desirable by their own kind, while big wings are considered a nuisance and ugly. Medusa Subspecies The snake haired ladies of the lamia type, sometimes refers to as gorgons, are the medusa. With a stone gaze attack they're rightfully feared, but this power comes with the price of much of their sight leading them to squint or otherwise appear to be judging any they see. Medusa have little control of their snake hair or their gaze, the former betraying any feelings the medusa tries to hide. The snakes may even have a different opinion entirely than the medusa, and medusas into fashion tend to be upset about their inability to cut their hair without making the snakes angry while their heads regenerate. The hair snakes usually have venom, and those that don't are much fatter than their venomous cousins. Medusas were once rare, but have become more common in recent years. Medusas are often naturally tsundere and stand-offish due to the influence of their snakehair they're in constant telepathic conversation with that have consistantly shown to be very bitchy no matter the medusa they're attached to. Some medusas have taken to wearing enchanted glasses that block their stone gaze abilities due to the unreliability of their snakehair to guide them. Basilisk Subspecies The lamias with the poorest eye sight are the basilisks, whos gaze can turn one to stone even though they may not have realized you were ever there. Basilisks have feathery tail tips and rarely have monoeyes, some may even have snake hair like their medusa cousins. Traditionally basilisks wear masks that block the eyes entirely, relying on their ability to taste the air to get around. Most basilisks are shy and klutzy due to how they get around, and because most are born due to a harpy in their lineage somewhere, many are discriminated against. Apophis Subspecies Born of the lamia who never left their homeland, apophis are powerful both in size and venom. Adapting to the shunning ways of the desert villages early apophii often traded cures for their curses for men, but villages learned to brew their own cures in time. Apophii then became infiltrators, kidnapping men in shadow to rape for hours as their more powerful venom turned the man into a bodyguard. Each apopii soon became a caravan onto herself, surrounded by their mindbroken men and lamia children. Their venom is a priceless commodity, banned world wide due to its use on the black market as a mindbreaking serum. Even in demon realms, apophii rarely find themselves welcome. Naga Subspecies Naga are not a true subspecies, but a mutation when an ordinary Lamia is born with viper qualities instead of that of a boa. They're considerably weaker than their siblings in strength, but their venom can disable an adult human in minutes. Sea Serpent Subspcies The only lamia subspecies to be fully aquatic are the sea serpents, with webbed ears and small horns they're most like their mermaid and dragon relatives. Sea serpents rarely surface unlike their melusine cousins and tend to live by themselves or on the outskirts of mermaid kingdoms, where they find themselves much stronger than their neighbors. Sea serpents are the most poorly studied of the lamia type due to their low numbers and generally solitary nature, but the few recorded are both venomous and strong with little talent for magic. They're regarded as powerful predators, and can grow to massive sizes. It's said there are abyssal sea serpents with bioluminaese in the deeper trenches of the ocean, but these reports are unconfirmed. Sea serpents tend to prize larger horns and interesting scale patterns like stripes and spots. Category:Lore Category:Current Category:Race